Being pregnant and car parks [vent]

I semi-apologise in advance for this rant, but at the same time I don't because I think something needs to be done about it. Mind you, I have NO idea who to take this kind of issue to.

Can I just say... I am SO SO SO fed up of people parking me out of my car! On a weekly basis now I will go somewhere and come back to my car to go home (usually feeling quite sore and sorry for myself from being on my feet for however long) only to find someone has parked so close to me that I can't fit through the door to get in my car and go home. I have been stuck for hours if I haven't been able to find a way to track the car owner down (ie getting Woolworths to put a call over the PA system or something, and yes, I've done that to the horror of the car owner but too bad).

It makes me so cranky and is a constant source of frustration for me. Why aren't there more mother and baby parking spots in Australia?!?! And how come pregnant women aren't allowed to use them? I understand why the mother and baby parks are there but I still think pregnant women should be allowed to use them too.

Two years ago when I lived in England I remember a pregnant friend hitting her third trimester and applying for a parking pass to be able to use the mother and baby parking spaces, which she was entitled to do due to the stage of her her pregnancy. It made her life a lot easier when it came to going out and about. Where we lived in was a permit system and it was policed.

Why can't they do something like this here? Its not like Australia is exactly short on space in comparison to England yet they manage to do it just fine...

In the meantime, I'm seriously considering sticking a gigantic sign in my window begging people not to park too close to me and explaining exactly why! SO FED UP!

I totally get your frustration, not only for PG women but i am quite a big girl and often get stuck outside my car, once i had to get in through the passenger side and climb across.. now for anyone who's met me i am also quite tall and have a smallish car... it would have been quite a site!

The carparks in general should just be made a bit wider, i know tiny friends who still have problems getting in :)

Petition to your local shopping centre, speak to your council or maybe put a story in the local news paper?

I could do, but the problem is bigger than just where I live if ykwim? I think that's what bugs me. I think it's GREAT that the parks exist and I think its very important to have these parks available for people with kids and prams, but I just get so fed up.

I actually just tried climbing over from the passenger side, 33 week preggie belly and all! Must have been quite a sight, and no, I didn't make it lol. I just had to stand there and wait. I might write to some of the pregnancy magazines... I don't want to do anything that means photos though. Having worked in the media I am very wary of it (doesn't really help my cause, does it?!).

PG mags could be good... the local council could possibly make it a bigger issue IYKWIM.
Just buy some of those bright witches hats and pop 1 in each of the parks beside you :p

I never thought of that! Maybe you could park just far enough over the line that no-one can use that space? Bit norty, but the average space isn't that big, you gotta do what you gotta do!

God I know what you mean!!! It is sooooooo frustrating!!
I'd suggest local council. They would be able to at least let you know where to go from there. I totally agree with you that it's not fair for us. I find it hard enough getting in and out of my car when there isn't anything next to it let alone when people park too close!!! There is never enough parents with prams spaces and I have used one before (the only other parks were soooooo far away from the shopping centre, I felt like crap and was 33 weeks pregnant!!) and got majorly glared at!!!!! We need passes or something like disabled people do!

Good luck with it!! I definitely think you should take it somewhere

I think they need to make the spaces wider on the whole and stop trying to jam so many cars in.

Like Keike said you could park just over the loine :lol: or like the people with hotted up cars park well over the lin so no one can use the other park (and no I am not saying all people with hotted up cars do this) :)

I'm so glad to know it's not just me that has my knickers in a twist about this. MrsBexie - I hear ya on the getting in and out thing... both for me are a slow process that generally involve a lot of huffing and puffing, sweating, grunting and the occasional swear word and belly grab if I manage to pull something :-/ My parents are meant to be visiting at Christmas and I know full well they will expect me to drive them around and spend days out shopping with them. If I'm feeling like this at 33 weeks I think at 37 weeks I'll be telling them to get stuffed ;)

I was parking across the line a bit for a while even though its naughty but now with Christmas so close finding a park is such a nightmare as it is, let alone a place where I can be naughty and park across the line! :) Am getting in touch with the local council for sure but wouldn't it be great if the space issue was raised at a higher level? Ah, we can live in hope.

Cars are getting bigger, and the spaces seem to be getting smaller! At my local grocery shops the parents with prams spots are actually narrower than the normal spots- its insane!

Good on you for doing the PA announcement! I did something similar when a woman who didn't have any children with her parked so close that i couldn't get DS into the car, but she hadn't gone in yet so i just asked her if she could move her car over. Huffy b!tch was not happy! I could have just scratched her car up, but i thought it was better to ask her to move her car...

FWIW, i wouldn't look twice if a heavily preggers woman parked in the parents with prams section, in fact i would probably smile at her!

One thing you could try (but yes time of year you kinda have to grab what you can) is try & park so your driver side is near a poll. I will often park so the big pillars that run through the underground parking are on my drivers side. It gives me plenty of room then & no one can actually park too close.
I have to avoid parking with my nose out. Because with out fail some big 4WD will park so close tot he back of my Van I can't get that back open to put the pram away. So as nice as it is to park with my nose forward I just can't do it if I have the pram. I know I wont be able to put it back in the car when I get back! Its ok if its a sedan as I still have enough clearance but its always 4WD's!

Not sure what else to suggest but I think your sign would be good. Im sure if it was polite & maybe a little humours people will move the car a bit if they think its too close. If not, just keep going back & having the owner called over the PA system.

eta - Suggestion for a sign " Heavily Pregnant Driver - Please be considerate & leave enough space for this beached whale to open her door to get back in the car" Along with a funny picture to draw attention. Im sure people would have a giggle & make sure there was room.
BUT problem is most drivers might not look to the left & you would be replying on them having a passenger who noticed your note.

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One thing you could try (but yes time of year you kinda have to grab what you can) is try & park so your driver side is near a poll. I will often park so the big pillars that run through the underground parking are on my drivers side. It gives me plenty of room then & no one can actually park too close.
I have to avoid parking with my nose out. Because with out fail some big 4WD will park so close tot he back of my Van I can't get that back open to put the pram away. So as nice as it is to park with my nose forward I just can't do it if I have the pram. I know I wont be able to put it back in the car when I get back! Its ok if its a sedan as I still have enough clearance but its always 4WD's!

Not sure what else to suggest but I think your sign would be good. Im sure if it was polite & maybe a little humours people will move the car a bit if they think its too close. If not, just keep going back & having the owner called over the PA system.

eta - Suggestion for a sign " Heavily Pregnant Driver - Please be considerate & leave enough space for this beached whale to open her door to get back in the car" Along with a funny picture to draw attention. Im sure people would have a giggle & make sure there was room.
BUT problem is most drivers might not look to the left & you would be replying on them having a passenger who noticed your note.

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:rofl: You know, that's pretty much exactly what I had in mind for my sign! :rofl: I figured, hey, it can't hurt and it might give some people a giggle too!

I think you can actually be issued an infringement notice for parking over the lines...so I'd be a bit wary about doing that, especially this close to christmas!
Are there spots you can park at the end of a row or next to a trolley bay, a pole, or something so you'll only have a car on one side?

You know just thinking, I would put a Massive sign on your rear window & your drivers window when you leave your car. I think there would be more chance of the one in the rear window being noticed.
OR when you park your car with plenty of space, go find a trolley & put it next your car. Maybe people wont go to the effort to move the trolley to park there & just move on to somewhere else.

eta - or purchase some witches hats & put them along the side of your car LOL. People would be less likely to move those.

People just need to learn to park!

I had a woman the other pull into the empty car spot next to me while I was loading up the boot, she was over the line into my space looked me up and down and walked off...silly cow!

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People just need to learn to park!

I had a woman the other pull into the empty car spot next to me while I was loading up the boot, she was over the line into my space looked me up and down and walked off...silly cow!

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Gosh, that's so rude!!! I would have lost it... but then again my current hormonal state has made me slightly scary :lol:

I have so had the same thoughts about the mother and baby bays and pregnant women!!! Especially when you get to the end of your pregnancy, it would be so nice to be able to park close to the shops in one of the mother and baby bays to reduce how far you have to walk to just go in and pick up a couple of things you need.. when the shops are busy, its the worst having to park miles away and a real struggle to walk to the shop entrance without feeling like baby is going to fall out any second!

OMG i feel your pain Yarra! Im so so ova it hey its driving me mental to the point il avoid the shops.Some people r just so ride and dont care.

It's funny, at our shops I actually think there are too many specialised parking spots, theres a gazillion and 1/2 are almost always empty.

Parents with prams
disabled
seniors
60 min parking

I know they are necessary but its gets frustrating driving around and around and around and around waiting for a spot yet 1/2 of the "specialist" ones have no one in them! I've never ever seen more than 60-70% of them used! But realistically our shops need at least 50% more normal car spots.

I always find disabled spots empty but then again I would never want them to reduce the amount of disabled spots!! (although I think we almost qualify as disabled!! Because we are dis-abled from doing lots of stuff being pg!! Haha)

Lol to the sign!! I migh stick one up!
"I am pregnant and huge so if you don't want your car to get scratched from me trying to squeeze myself into my car, don't park so close!"

I was happily driving down the lot to the parking area in our local shopping centre, some cow zoomed around me, went into the next row, and then pushed in front of me. Took the last place. I ended up parking in one of 3 disabled spots, and this cow who pushed in front of me gave me the filthiest look! You know, with the blasted SPD I prolly could have gotten a disabled sticker, but figured there are people worse off than I, but when it's a horrid slope and I can barely walk ... MEH!

Can you park a bit on an angle, so you have enough room to get out/in OK? And good on you for calling them on the PA!!!

I always drive around and try and find spots that are not too close to the door, but not too far away either although at this time of year it is hard to find even 1 space. We have 2 cars a station wagon and a 2 door hatch and I have now resorted to using the 2 door car to try and make it easier for me to park and get in and out of the car....although having to climb into the back seats with a toddler with my belly already big is becoming a nightmare, but with the station wagon it wasn't just me getting blocked out but also access to the back doors to put DD into her seat as well. I've now moved DD's seat into the middle of the back seat, but it still causes problems.....

At our local shopping centre even the parents with prams car parks are too small for the station wagon, not to mention that there are only 4 spaces WTF...

My local shopping centre has all of two parents with prams parks. And they are actually narrower than the others!

I never found it too difficult getting in and out of my car while heavily pregnant - but I have serious mobility issues since than and am seriously considering applying for a disabled parking permit.

I totally understand what you mean, I've got spd and can't walk far at all, now Christmas is around the corner you have to park miles away. I've now resorted to only going if dh can go with me, he drops me at the door parks & then meets me. I had someone park so close to me I couldn't get in my car & had to ask someone to get my car out for me. We should be able to use the parents parking spaces!

I know what you mean. I remember being heavily pregnant with my 2nd and had my toddler in a pram after shopping came back to the car to find there was no way i was going to be able to open the door to put my toddler in, and I could only just squeeze into the drivers side. Luckily i had had mum with me, so she stood to the side with my toddler, i got in the car, reversed it back and blocked the lane and took my sweet time putting my toddler, pram and shopping in the car. No cars actually came up the lane, but i was ready for an arguement so its lucky for them no one challenged me...lol!

Its rare i go out with my 2 boys by myself, so most of the time I try to park as far left/right (depending which kid i have with me) with out going over the line, yet still being aware the other person has to get in their car too. I also try to park next to poles or gardens too.

I also find those parent with prams spots no bigger then the normal parks and most of the time they're full anyway, cause there is usually only 2 or 3 available. They definitely need more and make them a fraction bigger.

I like the idea of the sign on the back window though, will keep that in mind if/when I'm pregnant again.

Here in Germany they have parking spaces for females only. Sexist? Yes, but they are wider than normal and are as close as the disabled parking spaces. Fantastic for pregnant women. There are actually always MORE of the female parking spaces than disabled and are almost always there. We also have Parents with prams spaces, but they aren't so common.

Kaydee: I want to be in Germany!!! That is awesome!! Girl parking spaces! Do you think it's because they reckon girls can't drive?? Hahaha

It's for safety. They are usually near the entrance/exit and with cameras near them. It's a great idea.

I didn't have that problem of not being able to get into the car but I can only imagine how distressed you were finding that you'd been parked in :o on the few occasions I went to the shopping center I could only walk around for about 30 mins and I'd be ready to go home. I have to admit though that when I was heavily pregnant (can't remember how many weeks) and I was 'very' sore dh and I couldn't find a car park close enough and I said "stuff it! park in a parenting park.... It'd be a brave person to have a go at me in the state I'm in" :rofl: plus I thought it'd be a pretty heartless parent to say anything considering how much I was waddling and was obviously in pain kwim I wouldn't have even been out of the house if I hadn't of needed to go to that appointment. Besides I fail to see how a mother with kids needs the space anymore than a heavily pregnant woman. Even now that I have bub and the pram etc I think I needed the parking space more when I was pregnant so I really sympathise with you.

Hey didn't have time to read all the replies so not sure if someone's already suggested it, but what about writing to a show like Chanel 7 SUNRISE?? they do stories on things like this all the time and it would get such great publicity through them.

I would be pretty embarrased if I got paged to the carpark - especially if I was in the lines - it's more the fault of the carpark owners for making parks too tiny isn't it?

Actually I think its either the councils or state government as they would set the guidelines for shops etc. to comply with in relation to parking spaces when first built.

I have actually thinking the same thing as I already have trouble getting out of the car and I'm only halfway. I can't imagine what I'll be like towards the end.

I actually work in local government and I just wanted to say that when we assess new developments we can't make them provide bigger bays than what the regulated standards are (I don't know if its through state govt or aust standards or what) so we can only use those as guidelines. Also from my experience in local govt I know that for the purposes of disabled access in buildings etc, pregnant women are included in the temporaily disabled category! Don't know how we'd go getting acrod stickers though!

That's interesting mellybelly about being considered temporaily disabled. A few times while out I had to run into the disabled toilet in shopping centers :redface: I felt pretty bad about it but dh said that I was 'disabled' at the time and I needed to go to the bathroom so I should be able to use them. I used them when I had the runs and a disabled toilet was the closest and at other times to dry reach in (not vomiting but i wanted some privacy while I had a massive dry reaching episode) and then while I was heavily pregnant because I needed more room to move my belly and bag etc around in. At the end of the day we are living in a society so I can't imagine anyone having a go at you being pregnant and using facilities which will help you function better.

I hate it when that happens... I also hate it when people park in parenting and disabled parking spaces and their kids are school aged or older teenagers and they don't even have a pram or carseat in their car...
I give those kind of people such dirty looks and talk really loudly where everyone can hear me about how stupid and bad they are lol I get a kick out of it and they get all embarrassed!
And then there's the people at the major shopping centres who drop their kids of at kinder/day care in the morning and park in the parents with prams car parks while they go off to work and leave the car there all day!

Most shopping days (only once a fortnight currently lol) I walk the 1.5km down to the shopping centre anyway, even with these supposedly unstable ligaments of mine lol otherwhise I would never get any exercise since I'm supposed to be on couch rest again lol